The Struggle For Truth
by TsunamiBlaze
Summary: Everything is at peace with the Fellowship, until two unknown elven figures join the picture. When Aragorn is informed his people are under attack, will they be able to help rescue the survivors or will they be too late?


A/N: This is the revised version of The Struggle For Trust, The Struggle For Truth. I have added more details, and will be updating it soon; sorry for the inconvenience for anyone who was reading it. I lost my LotR books, so I have not finished reading the book. I am assuming the ring was destroyed, and everyone still lives (except Boromir) of the Fellowship. This takes place in Rivendell, where everyone is staying for a bit to recover.  
  
Disclaimer: I own none of the LotR characters, nor will I ever, to my great sorrow =(  
  
/../ = Thought  
  
~*~*~*  
  
The Struggle For Truth- Stranger  
  
"Well, I think we all agree that for now, it is time to return home," Frodo said, sitting down on a bench.  
  
"I do not think you have the energy nor the strength to return to the Shire right now," Aragorn answered, concerned. "I think it best we rest here for a while and regain what is left of our sanity before we take on another adventure to the Shire."  
  
"You are welcome to stay here, in honor of saving the world," Lord Elrond said, entering the room everyone was in at the moment. "There shall be a festival in a couple of days, you are welcome to come if you think you are up to it."  
  
Merry and Pippin jumped up from where they were sitting then, at the mention of 'Festival', which included 'food'.  
  
"Count us in!" they cried, smiling, causing everyone to laugh.  
  
"I shall let you rest, you greatly deserve it. There are rooms down the hall for you to stay, I hope you sleep well," and with that, Elrond left, leaving them to choose rooms and fall asleep.  
  
Everyone slept for hours and hours, regaining the sleep they lost on their long, and torturous journey. All, that is, except two. They stood out by the river, talking of what was to come.  
  
"Where are you to go from here?" Legolas asked his friend.  
  
"I shall take the little ones back to the Shire, where they belong. I might return here, or to my Kingdom Gondor," answer Aragorn, polishing his sword some more. "What of you? What do you plan to do?"  
  
There was a moment's silence as the young Elf starred out at the darkening sky, thinking of the future.  
  
"I do not know," he finally answered, barely a whisper. He could not help the shiver that ran through him. "The thought of the future frightens me."  
  
"As it does many," Aragorn answered, looking at his Elvin friend. "It is something they can not see, or predict, and many people are afraid. The unknown isn't something to take lightly."  
  
Legolas was silent for a moment before he retreated back to his room, where he went to bed with a dark feeling in his heart.  
  
  
  
Legolas surveyed the serene surrounding of Rivendell. He smiled, his bow ever ready at his side. He moved from the rock he was standing on to the ground, and walked into a clearing where a small stream was running. He knelt down and splashed water on his face, unaware of the silent figure that had also entered the clearing on the other side.  
  
"If only I could..." he froze as he noticed the other in the clearing. There stood another person, though Legolas could not tell whom he or she was. The person was wearing a long black cloak that covered all of their body, with a silver clasp. "Who are you?" he asked, gazing at the blackness that would have been their face.  
  
"Hello," the figure said, revealing that it was female.  
  
The morning sun shown through the leaved or the trees, landing on the figure, making her look like an angel in black. There was a long moment of silence before Legolas finally spoke again.  
  
"How long have you been there?" Legolas asked, frightened that she might have heard something.  
  
"Do not worry," she replied in a whisper. "I do not tell secrets."  
  
"Who are you?" he repeated, his hand swaying towards his bow.  
  
"I am a messenger," she stated.  
  
"Legolas!" came a voice. He turned to see who it was, when he saw Frodo. Turning back around, Legolas found the clearing figure free, as if no one had been there.  
  
"Who were you speaking to?" Frodo asked as he reached Legolas.  
  
Legolas, who had been looking around, turned back to the little hobbit.  
  
"No one, my friend," he smiled.  
  
"Lord Elrond requests a meeting with you Legolas," Frodo said, relaying his message. "He said that the Fellowship were to come."  
  
Legolas nodded, and followed the little one out of the woods and back into the city of Rivendell.  
  
"I shall be there in a moment, I must drop off my bow," he told Frodo, who nodded and went ahead to the meeting.  
  
Legolas walked to his room, and threw his bow and arrows on the bed, pausing for a moment to reflect on the few moments in the clearing by the stream.  
  
"I am a messenger.." she had said, the words echoing in the back of his mind.  
  
/It's really none of my business, is it? / He thought to himself. But it was still in the back of his mind, nagging at him at every opportunity, and the image of her standing like an angel in the clearing did not help his wondering mind.  
  
Legolas hurried to the meeting area, the last to arrive.  
  
Aragorn, Pippin, Merry, Sam, Gimli, Frodo and Gandalf were already there, along with Lord Elrond.  
  
Legolas took an empty seat next to Gandalf quickly, blushing.  
  
"I have called you all here to ask of a favor," Lord Elrond stated, looking at each of the persons there. "When the Ring was destroyed, along with it Sauron went as well. But, just as it was destroyed, a dark spirit awoke, I fear. It has taken refuge inside of someone, but who, I am not for sure. I called you here to ask you of a favor. This dark spirit has powers far beyond that of the Ring, or any that you have ever seen, but I must ask you anyways. Will you please vanquish this dark spirit, and whom ever it possesses? I am afraid the world has no future if you do not."  
  
The room was silent, as this news sunk in.  
  
"Well, we saved the world once, we can save it again!" Frodo said, jumping from his seat. "I will not sit back and let our hard work be for naught, just to see the world destroyed anyways!"  
  
"And I will go with Frodo, to the end of time if I must!" Sam said, joining Frodo. The other hobbits agreed, joining their friend as well.  
  
"I swore to protect him once, I will swear it again," Aragorn said, putting his hands on Frodo's shoulders, smiling down at him.  
  
Gandalf sensed something from his Elf friend beside him, but did not pry, for he stood up and joined the group.  
  
"There is no telling where you will end up if I am not there to guide you!" Gandalf joked, standing beside Aragorn. Legolas and Gimli both stood up as well, and joined the group, smiling.  
  
"We shall make sure the world does not fall to evil," Legolas whispered.  
  
Lord Elrond smiled, and nodded his head.  
  
"So be it," he said, "I thank you."  
  
The rest of the week passed, Legolas feeling better and better since that day. By the end of the week, he was his cheery self again. He was looking around Rivendell, perhaps enjoying the sights, or maybe looking for the dark angel again. Whichever the reason, Gandalf certainly noticed the change, and smiled, as he watched him leave again for the day.  
  
"What are you smiling about Gandalf?" came Frodo's voice, as he sat down next to his old friend.  
  
"Nothing, nothing," he replied, his smiling broadening.  
  
"Well, whatever you are smiling about, I am going to assume it's about Legolas," Frodo said, smiling up at Gandalf, who was watching Legolas retreating form.  
  
"Good guesser," Gandalf mumbled.  
  
"Gandalf!" Pippin cried, as his sparing buddy Aragorn, had him by his neck, laughing. "Gandalf, get this mad man off me!!"  
  
Every laughed, and Aragorn let him go, smiling.  
  
Aragorn was still laughing softly to himself when he went to the balcony, and watch Legolas heading towards the forest.  
  
"What does he do there?" he asked no one in particular.  
  
"I'm guessing he finds it peaceful there," Gandalf answered, standing up beside the King. "After killing so many things on our journey to destroy the ring, I think he wants to just be able to sit down, and be at pace with everything."  
  
"That our he has a lady-friend waiting for him!" Gimli interrupted, smiling at them, with an odd gleam in his eyes.  
  
Everyone was looking at him now.  
  
"Do you really think so?" Merry asked, smiling a little as well.  
  
"I'm almost positive!" he nearly shouted with joy. "He leaves early in the day, and returns late at night. There can't possibly be that many things to do in the woods, can there."  
  
Pippin and Merry looked at each other, each with identical smiles on their face.  
  
"I'm going to see," Pippin said, Merry nodding. Gimli followed them as they left, Frodo and Sam hurrying to catch up.  
  
Gandalf shook his head, but was smiling.  
  
"I doubt he is meeting a 'lady-friend' as Gimli puts it," he said to Aragorn, the only remaining person there.  
  
"He doesn't seem the type to at least," Aragorn answered, looking at them running through the woods to follow Legolas. Aragorn laughed. "They'll be back before long, when they see that he is merely clearing his mind."  
  
Gandalf laughed, nodding his agreement. He stood staring at the clearing, until the sun began to set, sending gold streams of light through the room. He smiled at the peaceful place, not wanting to eave on a journey for a while. He was still gazing at the clearing, not really paying much attention to it until Aragorn broke the silence.  
  
"What is that?" he asked, pointing to a black shadow that was disappearing where everyone else had.  
  
"I do not know," Gandalf said, picking up his hat and staff. "But I do not like the look of it. Come on, let us go."  
  
And with that they both set off after the others, and the shadow, hoping they would not be too late.  
  
As Pippin, Merry, Sam, Frodo and Gimli entered the clearing, they saw Legolas standing near the flowing stream. It was now too dark to really see anything, but the moonlight allowed them to at least see the outlines of their fellow friends. They waited a while, behind trees, watching Legolas ever closer as he moved around as if looking for something. He had left his bow and arrows, which he had gotten before leaving, on the ground near the stream, so that all he was wearing was his white outfit that he had worn when he went to Galadriel's. The moonlight shown through the trees, and landed on him, making it look as if he himself were glowing from within. After a moment, Legolas returned to the edge of the stream, and just stood there, as if waiting.  
  
"What is he doing?" Pippin whispered to Merry and Gimli.  
  
"Waiting," Merry stated the obvious.  
  
"Well I know that! For what?"  
  
"I think the right words should be, for whom?" Gimli answered, smiling. "His Lady-friend!"  
  
"So you really think he has one?" Merry asked, looking at Gimli.  
  
"Of course! Haven't you seen all the girls flocking around him with goggling eyes?" Gimli asked, almost jealously. "We just have to wait a little longer."  
  
"Don't you know it's rude to spy on people?" came a voice from behind them. All of them turned around to see a cloaked figure towering over them. Their first impression was that it was another Ring Raith. They stared for a few moments and then screamed.  
  
Legolas, who had been deep in thought, jumped at the sudden noise, grabbed his bow, and ran to see what the racket was. He had an arrow on his bow when he entered the trees and saw Gimli and the others there, screaming and pointing to the cloaked form.  
  
"You again?" he asked, lowering his bow and talking to the girl.  
  
"Really, you'd think I was a ghost the way they were screaming." she said, indicating the five behind the tree.  
  
Legolas tried not to laugh, though with great difficulty.  
  
"Wait a minute." Frodo said, the first to stop screaming. "Raiths don't talk. do they?"  
  
The others at that point stopped screaming as well, just as Aragorn and Gandalf joined them. Aragorn had his sword drown. Once Gandalf saw the cloaked figure, he sent a barrage of magic at her, sending her flying backwards and into a tree.  
  
"Really now!" she growled, trying to stand up. "You could at least WARN someone before you make them fly!"  
  
Legolas went to her side, and helped her up, seeing as how she couldn't do it herself.  
  
"You mean you're not a Ring Raith?" Gimli asked, still shaking slightly.  
  
"A what?" she asked. Suddenly lights began to filter through the trees, and they heard voices coming their way.  
  
"What was all that racket?" came the voice of Elrond. The cloaked figure struggled from Legolas' grip, and disappeared into the darkness.  
  
At that moment, about twenty elves entered the clearing, with Lord Elrond in the lead.  
  
"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, furious for being woken up this late at night.  
  
"I'm sorry Lord Elrond," Legolas said, bowing slightly. "I was meeting a friend and she scared them a little."  
  
"Would you mind meeting your friend in the morning?!" he cried.  
  
"I. I'm sorry sir," Legolas said, bowing again before running out of the forest and retreating to his room.  
  
~*~*~*  
  
A/N: There is more to come, but let me write it ^^ Please R&R, I would really like to know what you think of my story. 


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